Enabling AVB on Cisco Catalyst Switches
This article describes how to enable AVB on supported Cisco® Cataylst® switches. This article does not detail Cisco firmware upgrade or initial switch setup procedure. Please see Cisco Catalyst documentation for more detail. Biamp recommends a Cisco certified technician performs switch configuration.
Supported Catalyst models
AVB is supported on select models of the following Catalyst series.
| Catalyst 3650 Series | Catalyst 3850 Series | Catalyst 9300 Series | Catalyst 9500 Series |
|---|---|---|---|
| WS-C3650-24PDM WS-C3650-48FQM WS-C3650-8X24PD WS-C3650-8X24UQ WS-C3650-12X48FD WS-C3650-12X48UQ WS-C3650-12X48UR WS-C3650-12X48UZ |
WS-C3850-12X48U WS-C3850-24XU WS-C3850-12XS WS-C3850-16XS WS-C3850-24XS WS-C3850-32XS WS-C3850-48XS |
Supported on all models. C9300-24T C9300-48T C9300-24P C9300-48P C9300-24U C9300-48U C9300-24UX C9300-48UXM Note: 9300-48UXM supports AVB on the first 16 ports (1–16) only. |
C9500-12Q C9500-24Q C9500-16X C9500-40X |
Catalyst 3650 and 3850 series switches have been certified by the Avnu Alliance, and are recommended for use with AVB. Avnu certification has not yet been obtained for the Catalyst 9300 and Catalyst 9500 series.
The following Cisco license levels are required for AVB support.
- ipbase or ipservices license level for Catalyst 3000 family.
- Network Advantage for Catalyst 9000 family.
The following Cisco IOS® XE Software release versions are required for AVB support.
- IOS XE Everest-16.6.4a for Catalyst 3000 family.
- IOS XE Fuji-16.9.1 for Catalyst 9000 family.
Limitations
The following limitations apply when AVB is enabled.
- AVB is not supported on stacked switches (StackWise).
- AVB is not supported on ports that are combined using link aggregation (EtherChannel).
- Up to 200 streams are supported per switch.
- Catalyst 9300-48UXM supports AVB on the first 16 ports (1–16) only.
- Catalyst 9300 series does not support AVB on 100Mbps links. All Tesira devices are at least 1Gbps.
Enabling AVB
Prerequisites:
- Cisco IOS XE Software with AVB support.
- Switches have appropriate license levels.
- User has access to CLI with configure permissions.
- Switches are not in stacking mode
- Interfaces are not configured for Etherchannel
Step 1 - Enable AVB feature
Enter the following commands to enable AVB and MVRP (automatic VLAN) on the switch.
| Command | Note |
|---|---|
| Switch> enable | Enable EXEC mode. |
| Switch# configure terminal | Enter global configuration mode. |
| Switch(config)# avb | Enable AVB. |
| Switch(config)# avb strict | Enable strict protocol compliance operation. |
| Switch(config)# mvrp global | Enter MVPR global configuration. |
| Switch(config)# vtp mode off | VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) can be configured for off or transparent mode operation. |
| Switch(config)# mvrp vlan create | Enable MVRP to create VLANs |
| Switch(config)# end | End global configuration mode and return to EXEC mode. |
| Switch# write memory | Save the switch configuration. |
Automatic VLAN creation may not be preferred some environments. In these cases, VLAN 2 can be configured manually and MVRP not utilized. For further details, see the Cisco IOS XE command reference guide for configuring Audio Video Bridging.
Step 2 - Configure interfaces with AVB connections to VLAN trunk mode.
Any ports with AVB devices attached must be configured for VLAN trunking mode. The port must also not be administratively shutdown. The following commands show enabling trunk mode for interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1.
| Command | Note |
|---|---|
| Switch> enable | Enable EXEC mode. |
| Switch# configure terminal | Enter global configuration mode. |
| Switch(config)# interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1 | Enter interface configuration mode. |
| Switch(config-if)# switchport mode trunk | Configure VLAN mode to trunk. |
| Switch(config-if)# no shutdown | Ensure the port is not administratively shut down. |
| Switch(config-if)# end | End configuration mode and return to EXEC mode. |
| Switch# write memory | Save switch configuration to memory. |
Configuring port by port is time consuming. The following is an example for configuring all ports 1-36 using the interface range command:
Switch>enable
Switch#configure terminal
Switch(config)#interface range GigabitEthernet1/0/1 - 36
Switch(config-if-range)#switchport mode trunk
Switch(config-if-range)#no shutdown
Switch(config-if-range)#end
Switch#write memory
Switch#exit
The switch does not require a reboot. Connected AVB enabled end points will begin transmitting protocol messages within moments of configuring the switch. Many other specific configuration options are available for the AVB protocols. Please see the IOS XE command reference guides for further details.
AVB status and monitoring commands
The following commands are used to view the status of AVB on the switch and for assisting with diagnosing issues.
| Command | Note |
|---|---|
| show avb domain | Shows a high level overview of AVB operation on the switch. Displays stream reservation domain active ports, gPTP neighbor delay and VLAN membership. |
| show avb stream | Displays a high level overview of all AVB streams advertised on the network. |
| show msrp streams brief | Provides a brief view of AVB streams on the network. |
| show msrp streams detail | Provides a detailed output of AVB streams and reservations on the network. |
| show msrp port bandwidth | Shows current stream reservation consumption on the switch ports. |
| show mvrp summary | Shows a summary of VLANs created automatically. |
| show mvrp interface | Displays interface specific MVRP details. |
| show ptp brief | Shows a brief overview of gPTP operation. |
| show ptp clock | Shows the current clock details. |
| show ptp parent | Shows details of the parent clock. |
| show platform software fed switch active ptp if-id {interface-id} | Detailed output of the gPTP operation of a port. Provides neighbor delay threshold and current measured neighbor delay. |